1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to information processing and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus operable in response to a touch operation and a technique capable of recognizing a flick operation input by a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recent touch input device enables a user to touch a touch panel with an appropriate operation object (e.g., a finger or a stylus). The touch input device inputs X and Y coordinate values of a touched position, as input values, and performs various processing based on the input values.
Further, a user action performed in such a way as to touch an arbitrary position on the touch panel with a finger or a stylus, if it is followed by a flick-like motion while moving the finger or the stylus, is generally referred to hereinafter as a “flick operation”.
As discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-161628, it is conventionally known to scroll an image displayed on a screen based on speed (i.e., flick speed) and direction detected immediately before a user completes a flick operation by moving the operation object away from the touch panel.
In the flick operation, at the moment when the operation object (e.g., finger) becomes free from the touch panel, the operation object is released from a frictional engagement with a surface of the touch panel. Therefore, at the moment of the release of the finger from the touch panel, the moving speed of the operation object may increase compared to the speed intended by the user. In this case, if the speed detected immediately before the user moves the operation object away from the touch panel is recognized as the flick speed as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-161628, the recognized flick speed tends to be higher than the speed intended by the user. As a result, the moving speed (i.e., scroll speed) of an image on a display screen tends to become higher than the speed intended by the user.